Edison Research announced its Podcast Consumer 2017 study recently, revealing survey information from Edison’s two large, long-running studies of American listening, The Infinite Dial and Share of Ear. Edison VP
Podcast listener attributes were revealed today, including income, education, and employment data. Podcast listeners over-index in all three of those categories:
31% of podcast listeners earn $100k or more, compared to 22% of non-listeners.

Podcast listeners under-index for respondents without a college degree, and rank above the U.S. 18+ population for college degrees and some grad school or advanced degree.
63% of podcast listeners are employed full-time, compared to 495 of the general population.

On the income disparity between podcast users and non-users, the gap is narrowing as more and more mainstream Americans discover the medium.”
Respondents who have listened to a podcast in the past week reached 15%, an estimated 42 million.

Among those weekly listeners, average time spent listening to podcasts was between 1 and 3 hours for 36%.

For 22%, the average time was between 3 and 5 hours. Those weekly listeners were keeping up with an average of five podcasts in the past seven days. The average time spent with the format for weekly podcast listeners is 5 hours, 7 minutes. That crunches out to about an hour per show.
Discovery in podcasting is difficult? Discovery is a ‘pull’ to get people to listen to a podcast. Let’s not forget the ‘push.’ When you look at the success of public radio in podcasting, the cross-promotion [from terrestrial radio marketing] is important. The only way to make it big in podcasting, is not just to rely on Pull, but to use an outside agency to become known.”
One of the most intriguing slides tracked how long different types of listeners have been tuning in to podcasts.
Across all types, between 1 and 3 years was the most common response. But for podcast subscribers, a quarter have been listening for 5 or more years, and 21% have been listening for 3 to 5 years. That shows a surprisingly stalwart contingent of listeners who have been involved from before the current wave of podcast popularity and growth.

Concerning program content, “Content is not king. The audience is king”. There are huge underserved audiences for spoken-word media.”
The share of Ear study measures time spent with different audio sources, presented in percentage terms. the most recent research that includes breaking out podcast listeners shows how listening to podcasts can displace radio listening:

- Tip of the Week: Smart Speaker Ownership Trends - Siri vs. Alexa vs. Google Home: No Contest?
Alexa has literally become the voice of this technology, and in many ways, it has pulled an Apple by making the development of “skills” (another term for smartphone apps) an open-source ecosystem that allows third-party developers room to create a wide variety of ways to deliver entertainment and information via voice. This can be done through the Echo device – as well as potentially any gadget that wishes to integrate it using the Alexa Voice Service.

Podcasting has been around for longer than you think (over 10 years now!), but the ways it has enticed people to tell their stories, as well as connect with others in a very intimate way, has never felt fresher. Yet, while there are lots of potential podcasters out there ready to try it out for themselves, many get lost along the way. It’s easy to see why – the onslaught of “necessary” gear, like microphones, filters, and mixers and the time commitment involved, are intimidating distractions.

However, you don’t have to sweat it – not that much, anyway. With even the most basic tools, getting into podcasting is simpler than you think. This article shares how Spreaker makes Podcasting easy and inexpensive.

Tamara @ Shelf Addiction
I know all about the interview woes. It's indeed a lot of work when doing a lot of interviews. It's definitely not fun all the time, especially when interviewing people that are technically challenged.

Tamara @ Shelf Addiction
Rob, I've updated my podcast art work and used some of your suggestions, what do you think?

Linda Irwin
I have made some wonderful friends through Spreaker I would not have met otherwise.